February 9, 2010 Snow and Wind

Just a few days after an accumulating snow, another potent storm system brought more snow and wind to Central Indiana. Snowfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches were common across the area, and wind gusts near 40 mph created significant blowing and drifting snow.

A strong upper level low moved down into the Ohio Valley and generated the snow and wind. Snow began in the late evening hours of February 8 and continued into the morning of February 9. Below is a radar image from 4:00 AM February 9. Click to enlarge.

Snow diminished during much of the day of the 9th, before light snow returned during the evening as the upper low moved across the area. Below is a water vapor satellite image from the afternoon of the 9th. Water vapor images show where upper level storm systems are and the moisture associated with them. To see an animated version of the picture, click the image. The loop shows the upper low moving toward our area during the afternoon.

Some of the coldest air aloft in the Northern Hemisphere worked its way down along with the upper low. The image below shows temperatures near 20,000 feet. Blue and purple colors indicate colder temperatures. Click the image to enlarge.

As the upper low moved across the area, temperatures fell at the surface as well. Temperatures fell from the 20s to near 10 degrees during the evening hours. As the upper low moved off to the east during the overnight hours, temperatures actually rose back into the 20s by sunrise on the 10th. Below are graphs of temperature and dewpoint for Lafayette, Indianapolis, and Bloomington. The period of interest is in the left hand side of the image. You can see the date and time along the bottom of the graphs.

Lafayette Temperature Graph

Indianapolis Temeprature Graph

Bloomington Temperature Graph

As the colder air moved across the area, winds increased with gusts near 40 mph. Below is a table of peak wind gusts recorded across Central Indiana.

Location	Peak Wind (mph)
Indianapolis	40
Terre Haute	40
Indianapolis Eagle Creek	38
Lafayette	36
Muncie	33
Bloomington	32

Snowfall totals for the event were around 2 to 6 inches for Central Indiana, with higher amounts both to the north and south of the area. Below are maps of 24 hour snowfall as of 7:00 AM on the 9th (left) and 7:00 AM on the 10th (right). Below these maps is the snow depth at 7:00 AM on the 10th. The depth includes snowfall from the previous storm on the 5th. Click any image to enlarge.

Below are a couple of pictures taken outside the National Weather Service Office at 9:00 AM on the 9th. Click an image to enlarge.